According to Festinger's (1954) theory of social comparison, there exists in the human organism a drive to evaluate one's abilities. In the absence of objective standards of achievement this need for self- evaluation can only be fulfilled by comparing oneself with others. If social comparison and self-evaluation are like many other needs and drives, one implication of Festinger's theory is that these processes may be found in very young children. However, a recent theoretical analysis of the development of comparison processes (Veroff, 1969) suggests that young children may neither be interested in nor able to use social comparison information. Since there are virtually no studies of social comparison in young children, it is impossible to determine which of these two viewpoints is more accurate. The proposed research will collect data which will allow a preliminary evaluation of this general issue. Two experiments are described which will seek to further our understanding of social comparison processes among children in achievement situations. Experiment 1 will examine to what extent children at different ages use social information which is explicitly provided, to evaluate their own performances. Experiment 2 will examine the development of children's motivations to compare in a situation in which they are free to seek or not seek information about how another child is doing. The frequency and duration with which they push a button to observe on a monitor their partner's progress will be the index of the strength of motivation.